Commuting

Getting from place to place in D.C. can be a pain. True, it's a small city -- very manageable, with little sprawl -- but with traffic, construction, and other typical urban-living hassles, traveling from point A to point B can be unpredictable and harrowing.

Commuting into the city is hard work. You dedicate minutes, if not hours, of your day to travel. My commute, at the current time, is two hours. Yes, you read that right. Two hours. I've been commuting for almost a year. Here are five things I've learned along the way.

You chose to take this flight. It is not just a commute. It is an exchange of words and ideas between you and your seatmate, an exchange of thoughts and feelings within yourself, and exchange of relative positions between your aircraft, the earth below and heaven above.

For four years, I spent over three-and-a-half hours a day riding the Long Island Rail Road to work in Brooklyn. For those who pick their heads up from their smartphones now and then, there are plenty of feel-good moments to be seen and heard.

There are a number of other things setting off passengers, starting with uncertainty, compounded by a lack of compassion by travel companies and further aggravated by a decline in the understanding of what is personal space.

British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour allegedly claimed in the early 20th century that "the motor-car will help solve the congestion of traffic." Today's city planners must not know whether to laugh or cry at this woefully misguided prediction.

I live in New York City and have come to endure my daily commute. Now, with clients in Silicon Valley, I'm frequently flying, and it's got me thinking: What kind of global footprint am I leaving? So I did some digging.

We launched PeopleForBikes in 2010 with the goal of uniting one million people for a better future for bicycling. In less than five years, more than 860,000 individuals have added their names in support of this mission.

Drive past five streets. Walk two blocks. Sit on the train for 50 minutes. Ride the subway four stops. Each piece of my commute can be broken down into distance traveled and time spent in transit. 90 minutes of commuting a day times times five days a week times 365 days a year equals an insane and, depending on your point of view, depressing amount of time spent sitting and standing in between point A and point B.

How was my weekend? Loaded question, but thanks for asking. I actually had a very relaxing weekend. Obviously I needed it. Why obviously? Oh, had you not heard? I bike to work now. Like, every day. Twice a day if you're being specific.

So, are these cities safer because more people are walking and drivers are more used to paying attention? Or is it because they have relatively safe and convenient pedestrian environments that encourage more walking? Probably a little of both.

Too many transportation initiatives focus on cars and highways, thus favoring the rich and the middle class. But there are ways to provide safer, more affordable, eco-friendly and reliable transportation to the poor in the Global South, as the following examples demonstrate.

I'm sorry that it feels like I can't afford to be quiet when it comes to employment. I'm sorry that I disrupted your commute as a result. It would be unfair to expect you to forfeit a peaceful train ride because the job market stinks.

I find I'm much more relaxed when I get where I'm going and can get work accomplished on the way, if there's work to be done. If not, there's always someone to talk to or the passing scenery, if it's not always pretty, is at least interesting.